By Dr. Presley-Nelson
Why pay for a custom nightguard in our dental office if you can just boil one from the sports store or buy one from the drugstore? There are several reasons why the nightguard we make for you is better.
• Ours is made to fit only you, putting pressure only where it is safe and allowing the bite to hit only where no damage will result.
• There are over-the-counter nightguards that cover only some teeth and this can cause the rest of the teeth to hyper-erupt or grow taller. This ruins your bite and can open up contacts between the teeth, making food traps that lead to cavities, gum disease, and discomfort while eating.
• Some over-the-counter nightguards are boiled and bitten into to form them. If the bite indentations are deep, the opposing teeth can be rocked back and forth, loosened and lost because of grinding action.
• The boiled kind can be so tight that they pull crowns and bridges off when the nightguard is removed.
• Over the counter nightguards can be so loose that they fall out while you are sleeping, making them useless.
• Over the counter nightguards can hold the jaws too far apart and cause damage to the joint.
• Slick pre-made nightguards can encourage jaw motion at night, as there is no place for the bite “to rest”.
• We build a ramp to keep forces on strong teeth as motion occurs. Over-the counter guards do not, so a weak tooth may be loosened.
• Over the counter nightguards are not very durable and do not last very long, while custom ones will last for years.
• All of the above points also apply to rubbery, sports guard types of “nightguards” that some dentists make. This refers to the ones that are not hard plastic and do not have a customized bite surface, that controls where opposing teeth hit.
If you are in pain with TMJ stress or can’t rest with grinding problems, an over-the-counter nightguard is probably better than nothing for a short while. But not for long! Let us take impressions of you, mount your models on an articulator (a bite simulator), and make a proper nightguard that is custom made and adjusted to be safe for your own specific needs.